Chapter 9: Temple of Fear

[ChubbyPixie]

"Garl's Glittering Undergarments, that stings!" cries Telkis, yanking the goblin arrow free from the seam in his armor. He can't remember the last time the half-orc's advice seemed so appealing. Backing out alongside Pelias, he will (if possible) unsheath and throw his axe at the nearest undead sentinel:

Hand axe, thrown (THAC0 15): To Hit:[1d20] = 16, Damage: vs s/m [1d6] = 3, vs L [1d4] = 2

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo lands directly behind the uppermost goblins and transforms himself into diceros bicornis, a huge rhino that takes up most of the space on the stairs. Then he simply rolls over towards the shaft, hoping to crash himself and as many goblins as he can through the railing, dropping to their deaths at the bottom.

As he falls, he transforms back into a sparrow and begins flying back up towards the other group.

[ChubbyPixie]

Bo lands directly behind the uppermost goblins and transforms himself into diceros bicornis, a huge rhino that takes up most of the space on the stairs. Then he simply rolls over towards the shaft, hoping to crash himself and as many goblins as he can through the railing, dropping to their deaths at the bottom.

As he falls, he transforms back into a sparrow and begins flying back up towards the other group.

Yes!!

[Mant72]

Ingrid follows the half-orc's wisdom and backs out with her shield raised against the rain of barbs.

[Inferno]

The Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Seven. Night. Saturday, October 22nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty





BONG!

Overwhelmed, the heroes withdraw from the hellish onslaught. But the damned horrors won't let them go so easily.



Grisly, undead hands grasp, strangle and hammer Ingrid and Telkis! (-6hp and -12hp respectively) They both fall to the ground unconscious!

Moogeye helps Pelias drag their broken, bloody forms into the candlelit antechamber of Misha Devi. The necromantic cadavers will not follow them across the threshold! The young nun binds the wounds of the newly fallen. Four heroes now remain standing.

BONG!

Meanwhile, atop the spiral stairwell, Long Bo, in the guise of a sparrow, flits behind a line of unsuspecting Goblin Men (G1-4) and suddenly transforms into the massive shape of a rhinoceros!



The stone steps miraculously bear his weight as he leans toward the railing, readying to plunge, pushing two screaming Goblin Men over the edge! They plummet shrieking to their deaths, splattering into the stone floor at the bottom of the stairwell with a sickening wet crunch. (G2, G3)

The four loathsome abominations across the shaft (G5-8) look up at the piteous death screams and are shocked to find an inexplicable giant beast on the stair, killing their heinous kin!

BONG!



One execrable Goblin Man (G5) drops his bow down the shaft in disbelief. The others, despite their astonishment, manage to loose a few arrows at the gigantic creature, one biting deep! (-5hp)


Actions?!


Map:

This map is a new spiral stairwell, one that connects the 2nd story (room 13) to the bell tower above. S = Skeletons. G = Goblin Men.
The rest of the party are to the north of S3 and S13, in room 11.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 2 Party wins.
Party retreats from a melee. Opportunity attacks don't get +4 to hit, because PCs are backing up (with severely reduced movement).
S3 and S13 opportunity attack Ingrid and Telkis: [1d20] = 17, [1d20] = 20, damage: [1d6] = 6, [1d6] = 6. Yow. Both hit for max damage. Telkis is critically hit again. -6hp and -12hp respectively!
Pelias slew his enemy last round, so no skeleton can take an opportunity attack against the paladin.
Goblin Dex Saves: (9): [1d20] = 13, [1d20] = 12, [1d20] = 3 Two fail, and fall from the top of the stairs.
Goblin falling damage: [3d6] = 9, [3d6] = 9 Both die.
Goblins surprised by Bo? (1-3): [1d6] = 4 Other archers aren't surprised by Bo. They must have seen the bear transform into a bird and fly up. That said, it's still pretty surprising. So I'll say they can only fire 1 arrow each this round, not 2 each.
Weight of Rhino triggers saving throw from stone steps: [1d20] = 20 Stone steps don't collapse from weight of rhino.
Goblin archers attack Long Bo: [1d20] = 1, [1d20] = 12, [1d20] = 6 One fumbles. One hits.
Goblin archer attacks Long Bo: [1d20] = 11 Misses.
Goblin fumble result: [1d8] = 8 Drops his bow.
Goblin firing into a melee. Hits G4 instead of rhino? (15%): [1d100] = 19 Hits rhino.
Arrow damage to Bo: [1d6] = 5
Falling goblins hit a skeleton? (75%): [1d100] = 90, [1d100] = 83 Both miss, and hit the floor.

PC Status:

• Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 25/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 0/16, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl and 1/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 3: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 3/22, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 0/1 3rd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: Move: 12", AC 8, HP 3/11, Lantern
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 4/19, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -6/28

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.
  Polymorph Self (Long Bo): Potion. Duration unknown.

PC Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[OGRE MAGE]

Seeing the goblins have easily deduced his plan, Bo continues his fall, no longer concerned about taking as many as he can with him.

As soon as he reforms back into his sparrow form, he flies directly under the stair treads, following its corkscrew pattern all the way down, using the stairs as cover the whole distance.

At the bottom of the stairs, he flutters over to the door again, staying close to the ceiling and hopefully out of the reach of the skeletons.

If the door is still closed when he arrives, he chirps loudly, hoping the others will hear him.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis lies still. He doesn't move at all.

Two crits in a row? Maybe it was his time...

[AleBelly]

The situation is dire. Two of his companions have fallen. Pelias himself is badly wounded, and he's not the only one. He tries to remember if the cleric has any healing left. He thinks she does, and decides to use the limited powers of rejuvenation granted him by Heironeus. He lays his hands on Ingrid, hoping his healing touch revives her.

[Inferno]

The Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Seven. Night. Saturday, October 22nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty





BONG!



In the dark depths of the damned church, the heroes are nearly overcome. Desperate and wounded, they fall back to the chamber of shattered bones and broken skulls. (11)



In the spiral stairwell to the belltower, heralded by misshapen Goblin Men screaming down to their deaths, Long Bo the nature priest, in the form of a rhino, falls from the top steps into the center shaft and plummets down!

The atrocious, blood-soaked abominations of life see the monstrous beast, impaled by a black arrow, collapse and fall. They hold fire, saving arrows by letting the plunge do their fell work for them, murdering the rhino as surely as it murdered the Goblin Men that preceded it to their gruesome deaths.

Black tongues lick hideous lips in sadistic anticipation. They lower their bows and watch with malicious glee, the coming bloody spectacle.



But they are deceived.

Moments before crashing into the stones below, the land leviathan impossibly transforms into a swallow and darts through the door to the north, just as it closes shut.

In the shape of an avian, Bo joins the other survivors in the temple antechamber of the living dead (11).

The ghastly cemetery carrion must have been commanded to guard the stairwell to the belltower. They do not cross the threshold to pursue the retreating heroes. Nor do the heinous Goblin Men. Yet.

Through the barred door to the west can still be heard dogs barking and men shouting.

Noble Pelias Blanchflower heals Ingrid Esthof and the priestess awakens. But Telkis remains unmoving.


BONG!


Actions?!


Map:


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 2, Monsters: [1d6] = 5 Monsters win.

PC Status:

• Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 25/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 4/16, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl and 1/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 3: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 3/22, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 0/1 3rd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: Move: 12", AC 8, HP 3/11, Lantern
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 4/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: -6/28

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.
  Polymorph Self (Long Bo): Potion. Duration unknown.

PC Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis continues to lie motionless.

[OGRE MAGE]

More concerned about his own survival at the moment, Bo retains his normal form and begins pulling the goblin arrows out of his flesh. He then casts his final spell of the day upon Telkis, hoping to at least revive the gnome.

CLW [1d8] = 4

Are there any windows in this room?

[Mant72]

Ingrid awakens with a start and immediately rushes to the aid of the downed Telkis. She kneels beside the tiny fighter and calls upon healing gifts to restore the gnome.

Seeing he has been revived, she tries to help pull him away to safety.

- Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 2
- Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 4

[Zhym]

As soon as the tower is clear of allies, Grothnak throws a flask of oil at the middle of the skeletons.

Oil: [1d20] = 9

[ChubbyPixie]

With a sharp rise intake of breath, Telkis awakens. "...I saw Finster! In the light... he, he beckoned to me..." he trails off. "Thank you, Ingrid." he adds, finally. Seeing what Grothnak is up to, he'll grab a torch and throw it on the oil, provided it's mostly on the skeletons and not likely to start an out of control fire...

This place is stone, right?

[Inferno]

The Church of Merikka (21)
Village of Briarsgate, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Seven. Night. Saturday, October 22nd, 576 CY
Cloudy, damp, cold, misty





BONG!

In the unholy chapel of bones and skulls, the legion of undeath does not cross the threshold. They make no sound but the heroes know they lie just beyond the door.



As Pelias lays the remains of Avril Hollysword on a bench, Ingrid and Long Bo humbly entreat their gods for blessings of healing for Telkis Brassfang. (+10hp)

The dwarf-like gnome rouses, waking among broken ribs and fractured jawbones.

BONG!

Moogeye nods and pulls open the door, revealing dead men, patiently standing, watching.



Grothnak hurls a glass flask of oil among their fearsome ranks. SKAASSHH! It falls short, shattering and splashing.

Telkis tosses a lit torch after it and the oil ignites!

A roiling conflagration incinerates one skeleton (S13) in a white hot inferno that leaps to the condemned corpse behind it (S6) which burns but does not fall. Besieged, the remaining grisly cadavers ready to retaliate against the heroes!




Actions?!


Map:

Orange skeletons are burning.


Rolls and Rulings (non-required reading):

Grothnak oil: Miss: [1d4] = 3, [1d8] = 4 Three feet short of the target.
Telkis: Throw torch: [1d20+3] = 16+3 = 19 Hits.
Flaming oil: Direct hit to S13: [2d6] = 9
S3, S6, S12 Save to avoid splash damage: (14): [1d20] = 14, [1d20] = 1, [1d20] = 14 S6 is splashed.
Splash damage to S6: [1d3] = 3

PC Status:

• Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 25/28
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 4/16, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl and 0/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 3: Move: 9", AC: 6, HP: 3/22, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl and 0/1 3rd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: Move: 12", AC 8, HP 3/11, Lantern
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: Move: 9", AC: 2(0), HP: 4/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 4/28

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.
  Polymorph Self (Long Bo): Potion. Duration unknown.

PC Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis will hurl his axe at the burning skeleton.

Hand axe, thrown (THAC0 15): To Hit:[1d20] = 3, Damage: vs s/m [1d6] = 1, vs L [1d4] = 3 whiff...

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo looks around at the terrible shape most of the party is in once again. Will this mission be the end of every one of us? He thinks to himself.

"We are once again nearly spent and find ourselves in a terrible situation. If those thugs from outside get that door busted down, we will be in even deeper shite! If you all plan on pressing the attack, I will fly up above and see what damage I can administer from behind their ranks"

With that, the tall druid smashes his spear haft into one of the tall windows.
Spear Attack [1d20] = 8 Damage [1d6] = 5

Using the remaining magic from his potion, he transforms himself back into a sparrow and flies out of the broken window, heading towards the top of the bell tower.

[AleBelly]

Staggering, Pelias draws his sword and waits for the skeletons to press their attack. He will step in front of the others if necessary, but won't go back into the room with the stairs...

Attack with long sword +1 (THAC0 19) [1d20+1] = 7+1 = 8, damage [1d8+1] = 6+1 = 7

[Mant72]

Ingrid stands her ground, taking her place near Pelias in case the undead decide to move forward.

Attack roll if needed: Mace (THAC0: 20): To Hit: [1d20] = 10, damage: small [1d6+1] = 3+1 = 4 / large [1d6] = 4

[Zhym]

Suspecting that an arrow would simply fly through a skeleton, Grothnak throws another flask of oil.

Oil: [1d20] = 2